Who We Are and What We Stand For...
The 21st Century Academic Forum is a global group of researchers and educators dedicated to supporting research that has the potential to influence the shaping of educational policy and practices to more effectively prepare students for the unique challenges of the 21st century. An overwhelming body of research indicates that students are leaving formal educational institutions inadequately prepared for the workforce and their lives in the knowledge-based economy.
Mission 1 is to support research on how to best prepare 21st century citizens for a rapidly changing workplace and world that requires the ability to process and prioritize information; the ability to communicate and collaborate with people across the globe; and an ability to use creativity and innovation to solve complex problems.
Mission 2 is to support the expansion of research exploring interrelationships among the disciplines as a way of better understanding the world in the 21st century. The complexity of problems in the 21st century require interdisciplinary approaches that cannot be solved under the traditional "silo" or single-discipline research.
Mission 3 is to support the principle that research should attempt to serve the public good and make a contribution to society. Our aim is to bring people from different academic backgrounds and perspectives together – bound by a shared interest in conducting research that makes an impact on the communities they serve.
Mission 1 is to support research on how to best prepare 21st century citizens for a rapidly changing workplace and world that requires the ability to process and prioritize information; the ability to communicate and collaborate with people across the globe; and an ability to use creativity and innovation to solve complex problems.
Mission 2 is to support the expansion of research exploring interrelationships among the disciplines as a way of better understanding the world in the 21st century. The complexity of problems in the 21st century require interdisciplinary approaches that cannot be solved under the traditional "silo" or single-discipline research.
Mission 3 is to support the principle that research should attempt to serve the public good and make a contribution to society. Our aim is to bring people from different academic backgrounds and perspectives together – bound by a shared interest in conducting research that makes an impact on the communities they serve.
International Advisory Board Leadership
Chairman of the International Advisory Board: Dr. Michael Orey
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Associate Professor
Learning, Design, and Technology University of Georgia Athens, GA U.S.A. Dr. Orey received both the M.A.Ed. in 1987 and an Ed.D. in 1989 in Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Georgia in 1989, he taught mathematics and computer science in public schools and in a private international school in Venezuela. He is one of the founders of the Learning and Performance Support Laboratory at the University of Georgia. He has had funded projects related to intelligent tutoring with the U.S. Army Research Institute, project-based learning with at-risk middle school age children, online learning with EpicLearning, and forming partnerships with Universidade Federal do Ceará through a FIPSE-CAPES grant. |
Vice-Chairman of the International Advisory Board: Mr. Fadi A. Khalek
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VP Strategic Partnerships and Efficacy at Pearson
Senior Advisor at Active M investment Chair, European Learning Industry Group Dubai, UAE Mr. Khalek is a top Management Executive with extensive global market experience across a variety of industries. Fadi has a special focus on learning and information related industries with a proven track record in achieving continuous growth potentials, incubating innovative and entrepreneurial initiatives and ideas and successfully managing multi-national corporations with exponential growth potentials. In addition to his current role at Pearson, Fadi also serves as an advisor to various venture capital and Private Equity Investment groups, on the board of several start-up companies and NGOs as well as his recent appointment as a Chair for the European Learning Industry Group (ELIG). |
Executive Director: Dr. Marguerite Koepke
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Director of Governor's Teaching Fellows Program
Professor Emerita of Landscape Architecture University of Georgia Athens, GA U.S.A Dr. Koepke has served as the Director of the Governor's Teaching Fellows Program since 2000. The Governor's Teaching Fellows Program is jointly sponsored by the Institute of Higher Education and the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georgia. To improve the quality of instruction in Georgia's colleges and universities, the Governor's Teaching Fellows Program assumes the complex challenge of moving college faculty members to the leading edge of instructional practice. To date, more than 75 different disciplines, professions and teaching areas have been represented by our Fellows, and they have come to us from more than 45 institutions statewide: large and small, public and private, everywhere from the northern mountains to the Florida state line and between the Atlantic coast and the Alabama border. |
Meet our Staff
Director: Dr. Thomas Lechner
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21st Century Academic Forum / Challenge 2030
Bozeman, Montana U.S.A. Dr. Lechner received his Ph.D. in Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia. He has been an educator for over 20 years and 21st century / life skills have been a center piece in his approach to his instruction and assessment practices. As Director, Dr. Lechner is responsible for organizing all aspects of conferences and establishing collaborative relationships with affiliate partners. He has gained experience in organizing conferences as the Program Chair of the 2010 Technology for Innovation and Education in Developing Countries in Maputo, Mozambique. Dr. Lechner also worked with the Governor's Teaching Fellows at the University of Georgia, a program designed to provide selected university/college faculty members from across the state of Georgia on ways to improve their teaching, assessment, and research skills. |
Academic Programs Director: Mr. Eli Ghazel
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21st Century Academic Forum
Dubai, UAE Mr. Ghazel, MA (Language and Literacy, University of Sheffield) has been creating and delivering training in corporate and education sectors in the Gulf, Middle East, UK, and USA for nearly 30 years. Mr. Ghazel is now directing and managing the training of elementary and high school English teachers for public schools in the UAE and Saudi Arabia for McGraw-Hill Publishers. Mr. Ghazel has trained over 1900 public school teachers and supervising staff in the UAE and in Saudi Arabia. He has authored: six textbooks for KSA high school students published by McGraw Hill; four adult English language textbooks for the UAE Ministry of Education: three Science and Health books for Hecma University in Abu Dhabi and published by McGraw Hill |
International Advisory Board Members
Dr. Abraham Abadi
Assistant Professor
Lesley University Boston, MA U.S.A. |
Dr. Margareth Zanchetta
Associate Professor
Ryerson University Toronto, Canada |
Mr. Josh Squires
Chief Operating Officer
EMEA at Docebo Dubai, UAE |
Mr. Bryan Eldridge
Senior Advisory Consultant
Desire2Learn Ontario, Canada |
Mr. Terry Miles
Executive Director
Thinkstitcher LLC Cupertino, CA U.S.A. |
Mr. John Thorpe
ELA Content Specialist
WestEd San Fransisco, CA U.S.A. |
Mr. Soumak Palit
Advisory Consultant
Tata Consultancy Services Kolkata, India Mr. Thomas Weeks-Barnitt
Academic Program Manager
Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance Bahrain |
Mr. Paudel Pradip
Faculty Member, School of Education
Kathmandu University Kathmandu, Nepal Mr. Govind B Raju
Research Scholar
M.S. Ramaiah College of Arts, Science and Commerce Bangalore, India |
Ms. Aisha Osman
Managing Director
G.I.C. Cairo, Egypt Mr. Nilam Shrestha
Faculty Member, School of Education
Kathmandu University Kathmandu, Nepal |